If you have ever had a concert or show that you contemplated attending and were unable to do so because of your inability to get tickets to the event, a ticket broker may have been the cause of your difficulty.
Because of the way in which a ticket broker operates, it is quite general for the top seats to an event to already be taken. This is because the ticket broker commonly employs outside helpers to do the ticket buying for him. On a normal day, when tickets to a particular entertainment event first go on sale, those who work for the ticket broker will buy seats before anyone else attempts to. Once the seats are bought, they are gone to be offered at a greater price.
Because of this kind of activity, a fair amount of state regulation exists concerning the sale of event tickets for greater than face value, and each state entertains its own set of guidelines. Some states go so far as to maintain that a ticket broker is barred from conducting business in their state. The only problem with this is that the Internet makes it very easy to operate a business that crosses state lines.
Selling tickets to an entertainment event for more than face value bases itself on the law of supply and demand. For any given event, there are only so many tickets available. Because the demand for “choice seats” can outstrip the supply of seats, the value of those “choice seats” goes up, and here is where the ticket broker comes into play. The top seats to an event will be for sale – for a typical price often significantly than face value. Logistical elements also come into play here, because theoretically the promoter of an event only cares to issue as many tickets as can acceptably be sold. Issuing any more tickets is a waste of money. On a more practical level, only so many “choice seats” can satisfactorily exist for a particular event in question.
The debate rages on whether ticket brokers should even be given permission to do what they do. Ticket brokers will always represent that they have a right to operate a business and are only taking advantage of “the market.” The problem is they aren’t in reality “doing anything.” No service is actually being provided. Ticket brokers are simply taking advantage of the workings of the marketplace rather than providing real service to it.
To gauge the honest benefit of ticket brokers in the entertainment event ticket market, a person should ask themselves what the event ticket market would be like if if no ticket brokers existed.
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